It was the riskiest advertising campaign in the history of rugby league, but at the end of it all Tina Turner helped rejuvenate the sport all over the world.
On Wednesday, Turner, 83, died at her home in Switzerland after a long illness, with tributes duly pouring in for one of the music industry's biggest icons. But the impact on sporting circles of the 12-time Grammy winner, widely dubbed the 'Queen of Rock 'n' Roll', has also been hailed.
And her affiliation with rugby league dates back to 1988, when she was recruited by the NSW Rugby League (NSWRL) in a far-fetched bid to reignite interest in the Winfield Cup. At the time of the gamble, organisers were concerned the competition was struggling to engage fans.
But a year later Turner was starring in a series of adverts which proved a revelation. Most famously, she mimed her famous song 'The Best' while parading around with half dressed players like Allan Langer and Wayne Pearce. But the ads also resonated with UK fans, with Turner's scenes filmed at Fulham's Craven Cottage ground in London.
Turner remained fully-clothed in the footage as the players trained intensely, but did help row a boat in one scene and handled a match ball in another. The campaign was soon credited for helping attract a new audience to the sport, with the game previously viewed as macho-orientated.
There was also a duet with Australian singer Jimmy Barnes and more than 30 years in 2020 on they reunited for another campaign, with Turner telling The Sun-Herald that year: "I am thrilled the NRL is still excited about Simply The Best and will use it again after 30 years."
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Pearce, who played for Balmaine Tigers during the initial campaign, and also represented New South Wales and Australia, recently hailed the influence of the campaign to News Corp: "Those campaigns won worldwide acclaim, and they bring back some great memories," he said. "It resonated with kids and women, and the popularity of rugby league was never greater due to those two campaigns."
And Sydney Roosters legend Brad Fittler also credited Turner for helping introduce females to the sport: "It was at the absolute start of my career, in 1989, and I could feel the difference straight away that it had on the audience and the way that rugby league was looked at,” her told NRL.com.
"It was brilliant and if you look at what happened from there, all of a sudden more women started going to the games and then more women started playing the game, and you look at the impact women are having on the game now. That was the first step, and the campaign was definitely to get more girls to the game, but I don’t think that 30 years ago anyone suggested that girls would be loving the game so much they would want to play."
